The North Coast Section Division I championship football game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Dublin High, but locations and dates for the other divisions will depend on the outcomes of this weekend’s semifinals.

The Division II final will likely be played at Rancho Cotate High in Rohnert Park if top-seeded Casa Grande-Petaluma wins its semifinal. If the Gauchos lose, the game will be at Diablo Valley College.

The Division III championship could also be at DVC, but only if Campolindo beats El Cerrito and Analy knocks off top-seeded Marin Catholic.
If either Marin Catholic or El Cerrito advance, the final will be at San Leandro’s Burrell Field on Friday, Dec. 6.

Freedom High’s Joe Mixon is one of six finalists for U.S. Army national player of the year.

Other finalists in the running for the award, which honors the most outstanding high school senior football player in the country, are running back Nick Chubb (Cedartown High-Georgia), quarterback Will Grier (Davidson Day-North Carolina), running back Elijah Hood (Charlotte Christian-North Carolina), defensive back Marshon Lattimore (Glenville-Cleveland, Ohio) and wide receiver Trey Quinn (Barbe-Lake Charles, Louisiana).

Mixon finished his three-year varsity career with 4,281 rushing yards and 76 touchdowns. He rushed for 470 yards and nine touchdowns in two North Coast Section playoff games this month, but Freedom was eliminated last Friday with a 27-21 loss to Pittsburg.
Mixon tallied 1,704 rushing yards and 28 total touchdowns in his senior season, playing behind a brand new offensive line.

The player of the year will be announced during an awards show on Jan. 3 in San Antonio, just before the Jan. 4 Army All-American game at the Alamodome. Past winners of the award include Adrian Peterson and Terrelle Pryor.

Mixon, a five-star recruit, plans to announce his college choice during the Army All-American game. Mixon has taken official visits to Cal, Florida State, Oklahoma, Washington and Wisconsin this fall. He went on an unofficial visit to UCLA this past weekend.

The Bishop O’Dowd vs. Bullard-Fresno matchup highlights this Saturday’s Nor Cal Tip Off Classic at Newark Memorial High.
The O’Dowd team features 6-foot-9 junior power forward Ivan Rabb, who is ranked No. 3 nationally in the 2015 class by rivals.com. Among the national powers who have offered Rabb scholarships includes Kansas and North Carolina, according to rivals.com. Approximately 30 Division I prospects will be playing in the seven-game event.
Bishop O’Dowd plays Bullard in the final game of the day at 8:30 p.m. The event starts with Fairfield vs. Castro Valley at 11 a.m., followed by College Park vs. St. Mary’s-Stockton (12:30 p.m.), Heritage vs. Oakland (2:15 p.m.), Freedom vs. Granite Bay (3:45 p.m.), Moreau Catholic vs. Monte Vista (5:30 p.m.), Newark Memorial vs. Modesto Christian (7 p.m.) and the O’Dowd-Bullard game.